Law enforcement (police and prosecutors) are opposing this bill primarily for 2 things: 1) Increases the Felony Theft threshold from $300 to $750 as the Legislature recommended last session but the Governor vetoed. The threshold has not been increased since 1986 and this now places Hawai`i around the middle of most statesʻ statutes. The Penal Code Review committee made this recommendation in their recommendations; 2) It moves meth into the regular drug statutes (712-1241 etc). Itʻs funny because many of the judges on the committee were formerly prosecutors and now they see a different side of the issue from the bench. They want more judicial discretion. Thatʻs good – weʻve got to get rid of mandatory sentences that tie the courtʻs hands. THIS IS THE LAST COMMIITTEE FOR THIS BILL, SO WE NEED TO COME OUT IN SUPPORT!

CAP POSITION: SUPPORT

TALKING POINTS:

Raising the theft threshold is a big advancement in reform. This change, approved by the legislature last session, cold reduce the jail population and the sometimes inhumane conditions in which folks are forced to live

Giving the courts discretion in sentencing is another forward step in reform. No mandatory sentencing – the courts have all the information about the crime, the actors in that incident, etc. That is why we have 3 branches of government!

CAP needs to support even baby step reforms – we just need to keep moving forward!

This is a single referral, so this bill needs to pass to get to 2nd and 3rdReading in the Senate